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E" I <br />�a <br />Vizcaya Southern Lagoon & Northern Canal Tidal <br />Swamp Landscape Environmental Restoration <br />Client Miami -Dade County, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust <br />Project Date(s) January 2012 – Ongoing <br />Project County Miami -Dade <br />Description <br />Vizcaya Gardens and Museum, built in 1915 by <br />Industrialist James Deering, was acquired in 1952 <br />by Miami -Dade County and is a US Historic <br />National Landmark site. Devastation from <br />Hurricanes Wilma and Katrina in 2005 wreaked <br />havoc on the gardens and grounds, designed for <br />Deering by the Columbian Landscape Architect <br />Diego Suarez, resulting in debris and sedimentation <br />blockages in the canal and tidal pond system that <br />connects to Biscayne Bay. Nuisance and exotic <br />species infestations, and declining water quality <br />from a loss of tidal flushing has resulted in a loss of <br />fish and wading bird usage of the gardens and <br />waterways. Rare coastal hammock hardwood forest <br />habitat was also destroyed. <br />E Sciences is formulated a multi- disciplinary landscape architecture and environmental restoration plan for <br />the waterways and tidal pool which balances ecological function with creative landscape aesthetics, <br />recreational functions and values, and improvements to water quality, and planting designs based on <br />historic flora inventories — including mangroves, native hardwood hammock and coastal scrub species. <br />E Sciences developed design plans to dredge the south canal at Vizcaya. A collapsed retaining wall at the <br />mouth of the south canal, in addition to encroachment of mangroves and other emergent wetland <br />vegetation, through the deposition of organic material and the capturing of sediments by their roots, has <br />resulted in interruptions to the intended tidal fluctuations within the canal. E Sciences applied for a Class I <br />Permit from Miami -Dade County Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) Department), a permit <br />exemption from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and a Letter of Permission <br />(LOP) from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) to conduct maintenance dredging activities involving <br />the removal of approximately 1,410 cubic yards of silt and sediments from the bottom of the canal. The <br />objective of this project is to enhance and restore lost hydrologic and biological functions to the canal. <br />Rev 8/1212014 <br />Project No. 7- 0091 -001 <br />RFQ No. 14 -07 -02 1 Page 12.58 <br />